The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists will remind healthcare workers of their duty to maintain patient confidentiality in new guidance, which is yet to be published.
Medics should not report suspected cases of illegal abortion to the police, leading women’s doctors are set to say.
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) is expected to publish new guidance that it is “never” in the public interest to share information about suspected illegal abortions.
It comes after high-profile prosecutions, including that of Bethany Cox, who was accused of using poison for an at-home abortion in 2020.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) is expected to publish new guidance that it is “never” in the public interest to share information about suspected illegal abortions.
Meanwhile, Carla Foster was jailed last year for illegally obtaining abortion tablets to end her pregnancy - but her sentence was reduced on appeal.
“We firmly believe it is never in the public interest to investigate and prosecute women who have sought to end their own pregnancy,” RCOG president Dr Ranee Thakar said.
“Outdated, antiquated abortion laws mean women who have experienced unexplained pregnancy loss are also vulnerable to criminal investigation, and health professionals are placed under unacceptable and unwarranted scrutiny.”
Healthcare workers must also abide by their “professional responsibility to justify any disclosure of confidential patient information or face potential fitness to practise proceedings”, the college added.
A Crown Prosecution Service spokesman said they “carefully consider” personal circumstances of those who end their pregnancy outside the legal parameters and “address these as sensitively as possible”.
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